Dean Edward Corgey

Dean Edward Corgey, 73, of Houston, Texas, died May 30, 2026. Born in Houston on November 6, 1952, Dean came from a family with deep waterfront and labor roots and built a life that reflected both. He met the world with energy, grit, and an appetite for action, whether on the water, in the labor movement, at the port, or out on the land he loved.

A graduate of Milby High School, Dean began his career with the Seafarers International Union in 1973. He sailed as a chief engineer for G&H Towing Company before coming ashore in 1979 to work in Houston as an organizer for the SIU. He later served as a patrolman, Houston port agent, assistant vice president, and ultimately vice president of the Seafarers International Union, responsible for SIU activities across the Gulf Coast Region, from Charleston, South Carolina, to Brownsville, Texas.

Dean represented thousands of working mariners and devoted his career to wages, benefits, training, safety, and the dignity of maritime labor. He also served as a vice president of the Texas AFL-CIO, secretary-treasurer of the West Gulf Ports Council of the AFL-CIO Maritime Trades Department, and on the executive board of the Harris County AFL-CIO. His work reflected a lifelong belief that working people deserved a voice, a fair chance, and institutions strong enough to protect both.

Dean also served Houston with distinction as a commissioner of the Port of Houston Authority. During twelve years on the Port Commission, he brought practical waterfront experience, a working mariner’s perspective, and a deep respect for the people whose labor powers one of the nation’s great ports. He believed Houston’s success depended on strong workers, responsible industry, sound public institutions, and good-faith cooperation.

Away from public life, Dean was active, physical, and drawn to open water and open country. He was a lifelong surfer who loved the Gulf Coast, and he treasured his property on the Devils River in West Texas, where he fished, hunted, hiked, canoed, explored, worked on the land, and found peace in the beauty and ruggedness of the region.

Music was also a constant in his life. Dean played guitar daily and was continually writing songs about life, his wife, his friends, and his family. With guitar, lyrics, and singing, he performed with a band known as the Maritones, and music remained one of the steady ways he expressed his humor, feeling, and way of seeing the world.

Dean was married to Angela Corgey, and theirs was a deeply loving marriage. He will be remembered as a devoted husband, father, grandfather, friend, colleague, and leader; a man of loyalty, courage, conviction, humor, useful work, and full-hearted living.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Cecil E. Corgey and Elizabeth Ann Corgey. He is survived by his wife, Angela Corgey; his son, Travis Corgey, and daughter-in-law, Allison; his grandchildren, Zoe and Aidan; his sisters, Ellen Elmer and Terry Flores; his brother, Eric Corgey; and extended family and many friends.

Services will be held Friday, June 5, 2026, at Forest Park Lawndale Funeral Home & Cemetery, 6900 Lawndale St., Houston, TX 77023. Visitation will be held from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM, followed by a funeral service from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM and burial at 3:00 PM.